My Sai Sivam

Once Bhagavan Baba had told me, “Why do you need a puja  [worship] room and my photo to pray, when I am within you all the time?”  From that day, I entirely believed in this statement by Swami and got His responses from within me.

We must develop a firm faith that Bhagavan Sai Baba is residing in our hearts all the time. In a recent speech to the students and other devotees in the mandir [temple] He said, “All prayers reach Me, but I act only on such prayers that are sincere, earnest, and full of faith in Me.” Whenever we are in trouble and only God can save us or protect us, let us pray to Him with all our love and respect and with full faith and devotion. We are bound to receive the assistance from Him in unexpected ways. I am saying this from my own experiences as Swami has helped me without fail.

One evening in early 1989, Bhagavan Baba, seated in a room in Trayee Brindavan [residence in Bangalore], asked me to speak to the students, staff, and ashram members seated around Him. I started my speech on the goal of life and the lessons I learned while working directly under Bhagavan Baba.

I was given the task of getting the construction of the Stupa Stambh [relic sanctuary] at Prasanthi Nilayam done through devotees. The first task was to find out the goal of life in undertaking new activities in the ashram. It took some effort to find the goal from Bhagavan Baba’s writings, and I wrote it on a sheet of paper and kept it in the puja room to enable me to check if I was still following the path leading to the goal. It is as follows: “Be a master of your senses and be in constant communion with the atma—who is really God.”

Knowing the goal of life, how is it to be reached? It is by knowing the source from which we have come. We have come from the Divine and must go back to the Divine, swimming most of the time against the current flowing downstream away from the source.

I told the students that it was not an easy goal to reach. Therefore, while working on this project, I studied whether there was an easier comprehension of this goal. I found one expressed by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa that I narrated to them. According to Paramahamsa, “We came to this world because we forgot the existence of God in our previous lives and forgot to love God. We must not repeat this mistake. We must also strive to get God’s grace to enable us to learn reality.” I told the students that it was easy for them to love Bhagavan Baba with their tender and innocent hearts, but for us elders it was not so easy.

Again, I quoted what Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said in reply to a question by an elder on how to love God. He replied, “There are three kinds of love we come across: the foremost love is that of a mother for her child, the second type is that of a chaste wife for the husband, and the third type is that of a rich man for his treasure, thinking all the time how to increase it substantially. Put all these three types of love together and pour them at the lotus feet of God.”

I then narrated two lessons I learned from Bhagavan Baba. He said on this subject, “The bird sits upon the bough that sways in the storm, confident of its wings, not confident of the bough on which it sits! So you, too, should feel strong because of the wings, the wings of shraddha (earnest faith) and bhakti (devotion), not because of the bough of this objective world on which you have perched.”

While Hostel No.1 was under construction at Brindavan campus, on Sundays I used to come to Sai Baba’s old residence (demolished and replaced by the new majestic building named by Him “Trayee Brindavan”) and sit in the old portico with students. Just ahead of us there used to be two large fig trees bearing good figs. A gang of big monkeys (black faced with large bodies and long tails) used to come when the figs were ripe and they enjoyed the fruits, unconcerned about us, knowing we would do no harm to them. I remember one such morning when a large mother monkey came and was devouring ripe figs. She had a baby monkey. While the mother was enjoying the fruits, the baby played on the ground close to the mother.

Bhagavan Baba arrived and taught all of us a good lesson that I will never forget. He said, “Watch the kid with the loving mother, who all the time has kept her attention on the kid while eating. The kid remains close to the mother while playing, as he has to rush to the mother if there is a threat of slightest danger to him. He reaches the mother’s lap and the mother at once puts the kid at her breast and the kid clings to the mother with four arms with a strong grip. The mother jumps with the kid from tree to tree, roof to roof, the kid is never fearful, having complete faith in the mother and no harm ever reaches the kid. You should hold on to Me as the monkey-kid holds on to the mother. Whenever you are in trouble or apprehend any trouble, Sai Mother will protect you fully.”

When I wanted to conclude the talk, reaching Him for a padapranam [salutations at the feet], He said to me, “You have not said anything about the episode in the Poornachandra Auditorium on Dasara day (the 20th of October, 1988).” I said to Swami, “What can I say about it. I am a mere instrument in Your divine hand. I do not exist separately from You. What You did on that day will be remembered forever with gratitude; my gratefulness to You cannot be expressed in words.” When I was out of His hearing, while coming back to my sitting place through other rooms, Bhagavan Baba told the gathering, “Bose died and I brought life back to him. He has still to do several works for Me.”

This episode, which took place before the eyes of several thousands of devotees assembled in the auditorium, was related in several journals, but the narration was incomplete with regard to events a few days before and after the resurrection. Many devotees came and sought this information while I was not in proper health, suffering from throat trouble because of speaking so often. What I did then was to write about the beginning and the end of the episode on Dasara day for the benefit of visitors. I am giving below the details:

After the construction of the concrete pavement around the Sai mandir [temple] over an area of 2600 square feet, with devotees working for 25 days, I was rather free from work at the beginning of Navaratri [nine day] celebrations that commenced on the 12th of October 1988. I, however, developed a continuous high fever from the afternoon of the 17th.  On Dasara morning, 20th of October, the fever subsided completely and I felt I could walk to the auditorium and witness the concluding rites of the Navaratri puja at 8 a.m. I walked to the hall at 7.15 a.m. and sat in a chair close to the dais where Homa [sacrificial rituals] was being conducted by the priests.

Bhagavan Baba came there soon after I reached the place. He did all the rites of purnaahuti [final offering] on the Homa fire. At the conclusion, the priests went to the Chitravati River for immersion. I saw Bhagavan Baba standing before the speaker’s desk with mikes fitted on it and I also heard Him speak the opening verse composed by Him. My eyes and ears were fixed on Him. Suddenly I felt uneasy, reclining stiff on the chair without any consciousness. Volunteers got hold of me and placed my body on the floor, where it lay still with eyes closed. I did not feel any misery or pain but I could see what was happening around me.

I saw Bhagavan Baba interrupt His speech (which He had never done earlier) and He waved His hands in the air, ordering something to go away. I then looked up and saw a huge bird about 10 feet long hovering still over me. I could not understand how such a bird could come into the auditorium. It suddenly disappeared from above me.

Then I experienced Bhagavan Baba standing right next to me with my left hand touching His foot. He thrust something held by Him in His right hand at the back of my skull while raising my shoulder with His left hand.

When I opened my eyes I saw Bhagavan Baba standing close to my left arm and I attempted to get a padapranam. He ordered, “Get up” after giving me a thrust on my shoulder (transferring to me the energy). When I sat down with folded hands, He ordered me to, “Stand up,” which I did with hands folded for a namaskar [reverential salute]. He then left for the dais telling me to walk up to the dais by climbing the steps and to sit on top of the steps. I did as I was told.

He resumed His interrupted speech as if nothing had happened. I sat there for one and a half hours listening to His speech and receiving thereafter the blessings given to all by sprinkling water brought from the Chitravati River. I could walk unaided from the auditorium to my place at South Prasanthi.

After my return to the room, the fever came back with a vengeance. The doctor diagnosed it as typhoid and appropriate medicines were given after Baba confirmed the diagnosis as correct and the treatment continued. The fever went down after the third day. Bhagavan Baba left for Brindavan on the 23rd of October, 1988. The fever also left me on that day.

I had never seen such a large majestic bird in my life, and I kept the vision of this bird to myself until I saw the mascot of the last annual sports event held here a few months later. The mascot was Garuda—the bird. When I saw it on the playground, I realized that the bird that hovered over me in the auditorium was Garuda. I took a good look at him and he, too, did the same.

~Dr. S. K. Bose, India
Source: Sathya Sai—The Eternal Charioteer